Anybody want one?

Is it just me or do you ever feel like boxing up your kids and mailing them to their grandparents?  Good thing Daddy intervened before I got out the packaging tape! :)  I was talking to another mom at the pool yesterday and we agreed that summer was invented as a way to torture parents.  Longer days with no schedule and lots of energy draining activities.  I still LOVE the summer even though it may not be a slower pace of life.  It's fun to be outside with the kids at the pool or park or in the backyard.  I think I'll be ready for school to start by August, though...

Little Swimmers

We have completed the first of two weeks of swim lessons at our neighborhood pool.  I was very surprised at the role reversal in my children this week.  Usually, Harry is my "jump-into-everything-head-first" kid.  I was afraid he would take that quite literally at the pool.  Hannah tends to be my more cautious child.  However, when we got to the pool, it was Hannah who couldn't contain the excitement long enough to sit on the wall with the other kids!  After a little while she settled down and joined into the group activities.  She has taken to swimming like a fish to water!  She has been the bravest kid in her class--jumping into the deep end more times than any other student.  Most of the other kids wouldn't do it, even with a life vest.  

Harry, on the other hand, has been very suspicious of the water.  If he can't stand, he's just not sure it's worth the effort.  After the 3rd lesson, I made him practice his back floats in the bath tub.  That seemed to help his confidence level the next day.  He is enjoying it, but still not as eager to go into the deep end as Hannah.  I'm hoping next week will help him get a little braver.  

We are headed to the beach in a week, and the kids are super excited to practice those new swimming moves out in open water!  I have already informed them that they will have to swim with other adults.  Mommy is afraid of water that goes past her knees.  So, maybe Harry comes by his reticence honestly.  I'll be sitting on the beach with my books and he is welcome to join me anytime! :)

Happy Anniversary!

Ken and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on Sunday!  We were busy with church activities on the actual day of our anniversary, so we celebrated on Saturday night.  We went to a quaint little town about 30 minutes away from where we live.  We browsed the shops on the main street of town and then ate at the inn in the downtown area.  It was such a wonderful evening!  We try to go on dates at least once a month, and it is AMAZING to be able to have a conversation with one another without being interrupted! :)

These past few years we have seen many of our friends' marriages become troubled and several of them end in divorce.  Ken and I have had our own troubled times as well.  I have become increasingly more thankful for a husband who is committed to his relationship with the Lord and committed to his love for me.  He is always looking for new and better ways to serve me and our kids.  He is generous, loving, and self sacrificial.  I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man!  I am also thankful for a God who models unfailing, unselfish, and constant love for us.  "A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart" (Eccl. 4:12b).  I know that without the presence of that third Strand, we would not be able to make it!  I am thankful for all He has done to bind our hearts and lives together over the past six years.  I am looking forward to many, many more.

Bike rides in the park

At a rummage sale at our church last weekend, Harry found a "big boy bike".  We weren't planning on buying him one until his birthday, but this one was in great condition and very cheap (can't beat $10!).  It has been funny to watch him learn how to ride it!  He isn't used to having brakes.  He rode his tricycle backwards as much as he rode it forwards, so it threw him off a little to stop suddenly when he pedaled backwards.  Once he figured that out, he was fine.

We met some friends of ours at a park new our house.  It has a great bike trail that goes in a big loop and then through the woods.  JJ and Harry had a blast and were so cute on their bikes!  It's funny to see such small people ride bikes so fast!  Hannah is more of a leisurely rider--she likes to take in the birds and butterflies and talk to people as she rides.  The boys were a bicycle version of speed racer.  I could barely get them to slow down to take these pictures!

Just as an aside, please pray for JJ's parents as they are in Malawi, Africa this week and next week.  Jessica is teaching a class for music teachers at the college and her husband is preaching some and helping out where needed.  The missing plane that has been in the news lately has been a great reminder to PRAY for everything!  Please pray for their safety as they are away, and for the Lord to bless the recipients of Jessica's hard work (she has been working for a year on the class she is teaching).  She is a VERY talented music teacher and I am so excited that the Lord is using her gifts and abilities to inspire and encourage people on the other side of the world.

Let it snow!

When we went in to get Harry up from his nap yesterday, this is the scene we found.  Harry had taken all of the stuffing out of his bean bag and spread it out all over his room!  When asked what had possessed him to do this, he replied, "I wanted to play snow!".  At least he is creative.

I find it humorous how the past often revisits you.  I have heard all of my life about what a handful I was as a child.  I was often "experimenting" and leaving a wake of disasters behind me.  Now that I have a curious and creative child, I wonder how my mother survived my childhood without killing either of us.  I don't ever remember her even yelling at me (although I did spend a lot of "alone" time in my room to think about what I had done).  This is a good thing to keep in mind with my own little one.  I actually was able to laugh about this snow storm (after the talking to and clean-up).  

I told Harry that I was taking this picture to document his childhood for when he is a parent one day.  I made him make a sad face (so he could remember that this was not one of his best ideas).  He also had to pick up all of the stuffing and put it back in the bean bag, which took about an hour.  Let me just say, it is a wonderful thing that God has given him such a happy, enjoyable personality to go along with his healthy curiosity!  I love my little mess-machine!